It can be difficult for a person using a spray paint gun to keep the spray nozzle at the optimum distance and orientation from the surface being painted, while at the same time applying the proper thickness of paint to the surface. This is especially difficult for novices. Therefore, providing training and practice experience is desirable to help novices improve their skills.
As an example of the difficulties facing novices, consider that merely placing the nozzle too close to the surface can cause an uneven wet film build as well as runs. The quality and uniformity of paint coverage typically improves as the distance between the spray nozzle and the surface increases, however, it is not desirable that the spray distance between the nozzle and the surface be substantially larger than an optimum spray distance. Letting the spray distance be too large can cause overspray, paint fogging, or otherwise decrease the efficiency of paint transfer onto the surface. Having the nozzle too far from the surface being painted not only increases the number of coats necessary to provide a sufficient wet film build for proper paint coverage, but also increases the cost of complying with environmental regulations. High levels of overspray and fogging increases the amount of volatile organic compounds that can escape from the spray painting booth, and also increases the amount of hazardous waste that must be disposed of from spray paint system air filtering systems. Because of these difficulties, training programs are currently being implemented to teach novices proper spraying techniques.